


Friend of A Friend

by teenbeachstan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, a fun lil trope i wanted to try out, band au, but not first kiss, but zuko's in here so thats expected, couldnt leave that tag out, metions of child abuse, no beta we die like men, refrence to the song "black sheep" by brie larson, that gets explained later, zuko and his girls are in a band
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenbeachstan/pseuds/teenbeachstan
Summary: (im bad at summaries) As a sophomore in college, Sokka (along with the gaang) goes to a small bar where a new, popular band is performing. What happens when the main guiatrist is that asshole he knew in highschool?Shenanigans ensue!
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula/Mai/Ty Lee, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56





	Friend of A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Lol Hey

Tonight was supposed to be _fun_. They had just finished exams, and everyone was looking for a weekend to let loose and have fun.

So here Sokka was, already starting to sweat in a cramped bar with his friends. He was just glad that the black eyeliner that Suki forced onto him wasn't smearing (Okay, maybe not _forced_. But if he didn't pretend to not like it, where was the fun?).

"Hey Aang, what did you say this new band was called?" Sokka tried his best to yell over the loud music.

Aang tapped his chin. "Uh, 'The Red Spirits'?" He nodded, leaning closer to Sokka's ear. "I heard about them from the guy who dog-sits Appa!"

Katara took the mention of Aang's dog-sitter as her cue to join the conversation. "He's not just your dog-sitter, Aang, he has a name," She said, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same. 

The younger boy huffed and wiped sweat from his forehead. "Oh right, Haru! Your _ex_!" 

"Oh come on," She laughed, though it was barely heard over the noise. "We dated for a week when I was fourteen!"

Sokka poked the side of Aang's head. "Dude, I never took you for someone who got _jealous_ ,"

The other boy just blushed while he and Katara laughed. After their stomachs stopped hurting from their giggling, Sokka volunteered to find Toph and Suki before the band they came for in the first place started to play their first set.

He aproached the bar, watching as Toph ordered a few shots too many. 

Suki turned, seeing him, then said something into the shorter girl's ear. 

"Sokka, look what I got!"

Next thing he knew, Toph had talked him into downing 4 of the shots she ordered, with Suki laughing as she observed the scene. The liquid burned his throat as it slid down, but the fuzzy feeling it gave made it all worth it. The three of them stumbled through the crowd, and towards the spots that Katara and Aang saved for them. Luckily, they grabbed a good spot near the front of stage, close enough that Sokka could probably touch the legs of the soon-to-come-on- singer if he tried.

Then, the blue and red lights came on, blinding him with a mixed purple. As Sokka blinked furiously, the crowd cheered, and he was suddenly hyperaware of the bodies pressed so near to him. 

His eyes jumped around the faces of the band members, which were mostly shrouded by hair and were _oddly_ familiar. Maybe he had seen them on instagram? 

Before he could think too hard about it, he heard a high pitched voice yell, "We are The Red Spirits!" 

The singer, a girl with jet black hair, let out several _Oh yeah!_ 's. 

Then it started.

She gripped the microphone, vibrating with the most intense energy that Sokka had ever felt.

_Hello again,_

_Friend of a friend,_

_I knew you when_

Some people started to sing along, though were obviously drowned out. Sokka had went into this blind (or deaf, maybe?) and hadn't heard a single song by these 'Red Spirits'. Though, he had to admit that it sounded pretty good to his _virgin_ ears.

But pretty good turned into jaw dropping amazing when the background guitarist with an incredibly sharp jawline lifted his face to sing along with the lead singer.

_Send you my love on a wire_

_Lift you up, every time,_

_Everyone, ooh, pulls away, ooh_

_From you_

Sokka coulnd'y help but let his mouth fall agape at the sound of the raspy voice, turning to tap Aang on his shoulder to ask who the guy was. Instead, he found himself stopped by the shocked look on Katara's face.

"Katara?"

She turned to him, picking up on his confusion. "Sokka, don't tell me that you don't recognize them!"

He shook his head sheepishly, eleciting a disgruntled sigh from his little sister. But before she could respond, Aang _grooved_ his way between them. 

Smiling, he delivered the worst news ever. "It's Zuko and those girls from highschool! Remember them?"

He paused, his mind racing to connect the dots.

_Oh._

He huffed out an annoyed laugh. "I remeber all right,"

Sokka suddenly found himself _much_ more sober than before. His mind flashed back to everytime Zuko or Azula, followed by Ty Lee and Mai, would constantly fight with their group, and how they had picked on Aang for _years_.

Katara grabbed Aang's hand. "Come on, we're leaving,"

He stood his ground, not letting her pull him away like he usually would. "You've got to admit that they're good!"

"I don't care!" She said, folding her arms. "I'm not going to stand here and watch.. watch a bunch of assholes sing in their stupid band!"

Aang rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Zuko apologized to us in our senior year, remember?"

While the two argued (well, it was more like Katara was arguing), Sokka racked his brain. He had never been good with faces, but now everything was starting to come back. He found himself on the fence- _Yes_ , Zuko had put a major damper on their highschool years, but he _did_ end up giving them all a big, awkward apology. Not too long after, Sokka watched the news to see that that big CEO, who just happened to be Zuko's dad, was going to prison for charges that not only consisted of embezzlement and tax fraud, but also child abuse. It wasn't like it was an _excuse_ , but Sokka could see the reasons why the guy had acted that way.

As his mind wandered to the thought of Zuko's scar and how he got it, the set ended. Somehow, Aang had convinced Katara to stay till the end, squeezing her hand the whole way through.

It was around 1 A.M. when it was time to go home, but Sokka was reluctant to leave. He had an itch in his brain that he couldn't quite decipher, but eventually decided to blame it on him just being tired.

Sokka stumbled out of the bathroom stall, rushing to meet up with the Gaang by the car. He was stopped in his tracks by a guy smoking a cigarette, and the guy just happened to be the devil himself.

\--

"Long time no see, Jerko,"

Zuko alost dropped the cigarette in his hand out of surprise. He didn't think that there was anyone else in here, since most people left early to avoid traffic.

He found his eyes scanning over brown skin, dragging over the guy's toned arms and the intricate tattoo displayed on his forearm. Zuko stopped at the other man's blue eyes, making eye contact, something he usually hated.

"Uh, hello?"

The _very_ attractive guy deflated. "You don't recoginize me?"

He paused. 

Then Zuko remembered. He remembered _Sokka_ , annoyingly loud and annoyingly smart, yet lacking common sense. He remebered the wolftail hairstyle that the other man still wore, just more grown out on the shaved sides. Zuko remembered Sokka, drunk, at that halloween party senior year, kissing him in the bathroom like he was the only person left on earth after the apocalypse, or something.

He took a drag, blowing out the throat-burning smoke.

"I.. don't think so?"

He honestly didn't know _why_ he lied. There was no real reason to except maybe to save him from the embarrasment of having to be reminded of the person he used to be.

Sokka leaned up against the counter, recovering from his once slumped position. The look on his face reminded Zuko a little too muh of that halloween night, so he looked away.

"Well, we went to highschool together." He attempted to keep his face blank. "You totally bullied my bald friend, Aang? Ring any bells?"

That, he couldn't help but grimace at. His lame apology floated into his mind, and he bit the side of his cheek. "Oh yeah. Uh, sorry about that."

Lame apology, yet again. But he watched in surprise as Sokka shrugged. Either he had _really_ mellowed out over the past 2 years, or he was too tired to start one of the verbal fights that he was known for. 

Zuko assumed it was the latter.

"It's in the past, I guess? Of course I still think you're kind of a jerk, but you seem like a different person now,"

Zuko couldn't help but laugh. "Not gonna lie, you sound like _Aang_ ,"

That brought a smile out of the other man. "Yeah, he's kinda rubbing off on me. We do live together, after all."

Suddenly, there was a loud beep, erupting from what Zuko could only assume was a car outside, making Sokka wince. 

"I would love to catch up, but I gotta go,"

Zuko watched him run to the door, running into the halway. Before he could blink, Sokka was back in the bathroom, panting and holding out his phone.

"My bad," He said, smirking. "Just realized I should have gotten your number."

He tried his best not to blush, but he felt his face heat up anyway. "Uh, yeah, okay, sure,"

After he quickly typed in his contact info, Sokka ran out of the bathroom once again.

Not even 2 minutes later he recieved a string of emojis, and Zuko couldn't help but smile.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh tell me if you guys want any more chapters! im thinking.......


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